"I think we played hard," said Sheppard. "I'm sure we will bounce back and take what we can from this game."

The Sharks regained the lead on the power play with 9:17 left in the second. Patrick Marleau sent a cross-ice feed to Joe Pavelski at the right circle. Pavelski sent a saucer pass down to the crease, where Couture re-directed it through his legs and into the net for a 2-1 edge.

Vancouver responded with two unanswered goals to take its first lead.

Edler's blast from the top of the circle found twine just over two minutes later and Bonino made a move around Tomas Hertl and beat Niemi with a wrister on the blocker side for a 3-2 lead with 2:40 remaining in the middle stanza.

The Sharks pulled Niemi with over a minute to play. Joe Thornton banked a shot off Miller and into the net, but time just expired and the Canucks held on for the win.

"I knew time was going to expire, I was out of position," said Miller. "I was hopeful the horn had gone."

Tyler Kennedy forced a turnover as the Canucks failed to clear their zone and shipped the puck to a streaking Hertl in the slot. Hertl pivoted and fired a shot that deflected off the skate of Sheppard into the net for a lead midway through the first period.

Vrbata raced down the right side and wristed a shot under the arm of a sliding Niemi to tie the game with 7.7 seconds left in the opening stanza.

Game Notes

Kennedy made his season debut after he was activated from injured reserve on
Thursday ... Niemi made his fifth straight start for the Sharks ... Alexandre
Burrows tallied an assist in his return to the ice after serving a three-game
suspension for his hit on Montreal's Alexei Emelin on Oct. 30.